'Lancashire is my second home', new short film 'Us' highlights the stories of refugees

  • Director Libby Burke Wilde spoke to Samuel Taylor

Lancashire County Council have released a short film that features refugees from across the county.

Through interviews, refugees from across the world tell their stories of arriving in the UK, and what Lancashire means to them.

This is accompanied by pictures of them in their day to day lives alongside friends and families.

One of the refugees involved, Yuliia Yevusko, said: “The idea was to remove this gap, remove this distance between refugees and everyone else.

“I never thought I would be a refugee. I had a career, a beautiful house… But I think we wanted to show that you can start from scratch, start a new life, even in another country.”

Yuliia is from Kyiv in Ukraine. In the film, she tells her story of arriving in the UK and how she found a home in Lancashire.

She said: “I came here last summer alone, so it was almost vital for me to find new friends, find a new family here.”

Not long after arriving in the UK, Yuliia got a job at Lancaster County Council, working with refugees to assess their needs. Credit: Libby Burke Wilde

When Lancashire County Council announced they were funding the short film, Yuliia’s team encouraged her to get involved.

She said: “I have a great team, no one goes unnoticed. They asked me about my story, and then helped me share it. They are my second family

“I still dream of coming back to Ukraine… But it was hard to stay there. The village where I lived was totally destroyed.”

Despite this, she’s glad she had a welcoming environment to come back to in the UK.

“Lancashire is my second home. With my job I can grow and I can learn, and take these skills back to Ukraine.”

Since arriving in Lancashire, Yuliia has already returned to Kyiv twice, but each time the continuing war forced her to leave her home. Credit: Libby Burke Wilde

The film’s director, Libby Burke Wilde, said: “I pitched the project as a visual podcast. You can just sit and not watch the visuals and let words wash over you… But we got amazing visuals and I think you could also watch that without the sound and think maybe I’ll spend more time and listen to what they’re saying.”

When she’s not telling the story of refugees, Libby works as a photographer and music video director, having worked with musicians like Lewis Capaldi and Jesse Buckley. The name of the piece, Us, was chosen by the people in the film, who wanted to show that refugees are more than just their stories.

Libby said: “Making this film really hammered home to me that we’re all human. Syrian, Afghan, or Sudanese. We’re all the same. That wasn’t a new lesson for me, but I think it’s one that bears repeating.

Through the film, she hopes she can help the people of Lancashire learn just how much their home means to so many refugees.

She said: “Lancashire has a very high number of refugees sent there, because it’s got cheaper housing… So, it’s essential for places like this that are 90% white British to invest in arts and storytelling like this.

“If people are just arriving on your doorstep, you want to know their stories and learn about their cultures.”

Despite tackling such harrowing stories, the film strikes a hopeful tone with Lancashire named as a place of sanctuary and somewhere refugees can rebuild their lives.

Libby said: “It was totally essential that it was hopeful… Everybody knows horrific stories refugees coming to the UK, and those stories are important but the point of the film is to inform and allow people from Lancashire and beyond to understand.

“It’s very much about how they didn’t want to leave their homes, but they’re grateful to be here now. I think that’s one of the key messages of the film. That’s what it’s about.”

The powerful short film, titled US, features a number of refugees who have sought sanctuary in Lancashire, where the film was shot. Credit: Libby Burke Wilde

The film highlights how Lancashire can be a place of sanctuary and somewhere refugees can begin to rebuild their lives, but Granada Reports asked Libby if runs the risks of sanitising their stories?

She said: “It’s a really fair question. It’s something I think about all the time… But I spend a lot of time with these people, and I get to know them and make sure they feel they can speak however they want.

“If I felt what they were telling me was negative, then that’s fine. I think that would then become a conversation like how do we help this person?

“There’s so much negative news, and there was no script in this film. It’s truthful, and I think it’s important that not everything is negative.”

Yuliia agreed with this message, which is part of the reason she got involved in the project.

She said: “I didn’t want the film to be miserable or show a person in deep grief. I’m very happy that its more vivid. It shows us refugees as normal people with plans and dreams. It shows us with a normal life”

Alongside the short film, Libby Burke Wilde is also working on a touring exhibition called Place of Power, in which Ukrainian refugees are photographed in parts of the county that make them feel powerful.

The exhibition is touring across Lancashire up until February 2024.

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